Real Racing

Real Racing 2 for iPhone and iPod touch, the much anticipated sequel to Firemint's hugely popular, ADA-winning race game, will be hitting the iTunes App Store on December 16 with 30 licensed cars, a 16 car grid, and online races. The full feature list includes:

30 officially licensed cars

16 car grid against AI, and 16 player online racing – an iOS first

Career mode with well over 10 hours gameplay and a range of event types

Firemint's Real Racing is an ADA award winning game for the iOS platform, and they've just sent TiPb word that soon, using Apple's new Game Center, it's going to be offering 4-way multiplayer.

The wait is almost over! We’re very happy to announce that one of the most requested features in Real Racing is coming soon: online multiplayer! We are currently working on an update that will let you race in real-time, online via Apple Game Center, with support for up to four players.

If you can't wait for the multiplayer update to come out, there's a way to get in early:

We’ve been keeping our eye out as more iOS4 app updates keep hitting the App Store filled with multitasking, state saving, Retina Display-ing goodness. So pull out your iPhone or get on iTunes and check for updates. Here are some more we’ve seen roll out since our last post.

This year's WWDC 2010 Apple Design Awards were a decidedly iPhone and iPad-centric affair, yet the winners still manage to run an amazing gamut from fun to foodie, creative to informative. Without further ado, here are the ADA.

Real Racing HD [$9.99- iTunes Link] is a blast to play on the iPad. I have enjoyed the iPhone iteration for some time and I was really looking forward to the iPad version. Thankfully the game is still a blast to play, looks good and has a few new features to keep you interested in this version.

First of the changes is the resolution. The graphics and frame rate are really smooth. The immersive feel of the in- car view is fantastic. This game does have a different feel now on the larger screen and I like it. You can now add your own skin to your car via the Camera Role. This is a great way to customize the cars in the game if you get bored with what is available. Firemint even has a website with skins to download. To install a skin, just save to the Camera Role or use an existing image. You can then apply the picture to a car, giving it a new look.

The other new feature with this version of Real Racing is the ability to save/ load ghost car data. In Time Trial mode you can save your race after you finish. You are then added to the leaderboards. You can view or race against others in your bracket . You can't at this time race against higher ranked players. Firemint says they are listening to feedback and may implement this in a future update.

For a first effort out of the gate, I really am enjoying Real Racing HD and I am looking forward to see how the development will improve on this already awesome game. Gallery and video after the break!

What with the leaks and every pre-review worth its salt using Real Racing to show off some iPad gaming, it's hardly a secret that Firemint is going all in on Apple's new platform, and they're bringing Flight Control along for the ride -- in 3D!

Firemint has put up the above video tech demo of their Real Racing game running optimized for an iPhone 3GS and.... wow.

“Since the game uses a high fidelity physics engine, adding cars is a good test for pushing the hardware. We started our tech demo with 8 cars on the track, then 10, 12, 16 and 20, and the 3GS still didn’t break a sweat,” wrote Firemint’s Alexandra Peters. “We finally stopped when we got to 40 cars on the track at the same time, still with no perceptible drop in frame rate. We think the results are mind blowing.”

Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they're iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they're fair game.

So who's on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!